Introduing the Cullens
by hannirose
Summary: A short 5-6 chaptered story detailing the first week of the Cullen family’s arrival in Forks.
1. Meet the Cullens

**Disclaimer:** The Twilight series is exclusive property of Stephenie Meyer. Any reference to Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn, the unpublished document of Midnight Sun or the mythology therein is her creative property. No plagiarism intended. This is a fan-created story.

*********

**Chapter One:**

**Welcome to Forks…Again**

"It's time." Carlisle said, a soft sigh escaping him. Edward heard his guilt-filled thoughts. Carlisle had been pondering immortality again. He was wondering if he made a mistake, bring Edward, Esme, Rosalie and Emmett into this world. A world of hiding in the dark.

There was a long silence before Rosalie, her mouth turned down in a scowl, said, "I don't WANT to leave. Emmett and I _just_ got married, can't we wait a little longer? I don't want to pretend to be so young yet!" Edward scoffed aloud, hearing Rosalie's mind fill with shallow thoughts of decorating the house her and Emmett shared. Should she go with beige for the kitchen…?

Rosalie let out a low snarl, interrupting Edward from his reverie. She barred her teeth and snapped,

"Get out of my head, or you won't have ears to hear my thoughts or anyone else's."

"Rose!" Esme chided. They were all used to the bickering by now, but Esme was the mother of this house-hold.

Edward just rolled his eyes. It wasn't his ears he used to read minds anyway, though he was sure she knew that.

Esme's eyes flicked to Edward,

"And you, young man-"

"I am over one-hundred year old and in that way older than you, mom." Edward reminded her with a slight smile touching the side of his mouth.

Esme sighed, but she looked amused more than annoyed.

"Just be nice." Rosalie started to gloat and Esme added quickly, "BOTH of you. And let the others speak for once!"

At that Edward and Rosalie both fell silent, and exchanged sheepish glances.

_She's amazingly good at the guilt-trip._ Rosalie thought, and Edward lifted an eyebrow in silent reply, knowing that was as much as an apology as he would get.

"How soon?" Alice's lilting voice questioned, ignoring the interruption like it had never happened. Edward supposed the whole family was used to him and Rose bickering, even Emmett didn't get upset with him anymore. Used to be Emmett took Rosalie's side no matter what. Turning his attention back to Alice, Edward heard her think wistfully of the idea of a "home". A place you could stay forever, not just until you got too old by human standards to still look like a teenager.

_You may think Rosalie is shallow, but I get it. Imagine having a place that wasn't just a stop along the way. Imagine a place we could stay forever. No hiding, no repeating high school over and over. Wouldn't you want that? For all of us?_

Edward met Alice's eyes, and saw sadness in them. He reached across the table and tugged gently on a lock of her short hair, his eyes soft as he tried to cheer up his favorite sister.

"Your hair's growing out. You should let Rose cut it, I liked the spikes. It gives you some much needed height."

Alice rolled her eyes, but he heard her suddenly thinking, _I wonder if pink would be too much? I mean, Forks is pretty conservative…_

"To answer your question, Alice, I think Edward would know best."

_Do we need to have a 'family emergency' again, Edward?_

Carlisle refrained from speaking aloud, not wanting to alarm the others if there was reason to leave quickly.

Edward looked at Carlisle and shook his head, indicating that he had no knowledge of anyone suspecting their true identities. Carlisle smiled his thanks and looked back at Alice, who nodded, seemingly a little perkier at the idea of a new hair style.

"Speak out loud." Emmett demanded. He was often frustrated with the silent conversations that went on in his family. "We're not all freaks like you two darlings."

Alice stuck her tongue out at Emmett and Edward faked a scowl.

"I'm seeing that we could have at least a two-week grace period, plenty of time for us to make our excuses to leave without arousing suspicion. Are you going to fake another job offer, Carlisle?" Alice asked, changing the subject, but not before shooting an annoyed but still loving glance at Emmett.

Suddenly the tension in the air fizzled like a candle before extinguishing, and everyone was filled with a calm assurance. It was impossible to be mad at Jasper when he did this, but Edward said,

"Was that really necessary, brother?"

Jasper, the quietest of them all, nodded.

"There's no sense in us all getting worked up over something that is inevitable. Let Carlisle speak his piece."

_Oops. Three freaky siblings, I forgot…_

Emmett's thought was meant for Edward to hear, hoping it would annoy his brother into a friendly confrontation, Edward pretended like he heard nothing.

Carlisle nodded his thanks to Jasper and leaned forward, looking at his family surrounding him across the large oval oak table.

"I do actually have a place and a job in mind. Washington state. I was thinking that we might go back to Forks. It's been decades, after all since we were last there. It's rather perfect for us, it gets the more rain than anywhere else in the country, and very little sunlight. Our lives could be practically normal. Plus, Forks Memorial Hospital needs a surgeon, and an Emergency Room resident. They've offered to give me both. It's not too far from Seattle, I thought that might make you, Alice and Rose, happy. You could go shopping during the daytime. More importantly there is a fair amount of game. Not only deer, but mountain lions, and a few species of bears that are over-populated in certain areas."

Emmett grinned, "You know how I like my grizzly."

Rosalie smiled at this, her usually cold and uptight face turning soft as she reminded him quietly, "And I know how much grizzlies like you." Emmett gave her a tender look, and Edward made a point of NOT reading either of their minds.

"The house," Esme asked quietly, hope in her voice, "Is it still there?"

"Yes, although it's not in the best condition anymore. No one has lived in it since the last time we were there. I thought we could add onto it. Make it more…homey. It's far enough off the main roads, so you could design it however you like."

Carlisle's voice as he spoke to his wife and soul mate was soft, and Esme smiled back at him, her face lighting up the whole room with her love. As Edward watched the two of them he wondered if he would ever find that kind of devotion. He didn't want to be like Rosalie or Emmett, so in love that they forgot everyone else, or the quiet and over-protective love that Jasper felt for Alive. Carlisle's balance of his love for his career, his wife and his "children" was something to marvel at. His strength…Edward was the second oldest vampire in this household, but he was still amazed at Carlisle's ability to live almost human.

Caught up in his thoughts Edward missed the fact that everyone was looking at him. He blinked, and said cautiously,

"Yes?"

"Edward, you still haven't voice an opinion." Esme noted, her formally peaceful face carrying a worried frown. "Would you prefer to go somewhere else?"

Edward answered smoothly, "I have no preference. It seems our time here in done. We've graduated, had the wedding for Rose and Em. What more is there to stay for?" He ignored the sad look on his mother's face and continued, "We should get our stories straightened out. We'll have to be the rather outspoken the first week. We'll need you for that, Jazz. To make the human's calm enough to be around us to hear our back story. For that matter…what is our back story this time?"

_Edward, that's asking a lot from him. _Alice was in his head, pleading silently, _He's so new to this. You must know how much I hate to ask this but…will you keep an eye on him. Surrounded by new smelling humans, especially the first week will be…dangerous. Will you?_

Edward looked across the table at her and slowly rolled his eyes up toward the ceiling and back down toward the table in the eyeball equivalent of a nod.

_Thank you._

"We moved down to Forks from Alaska. It'll help explain our skin tone and our ambivalence to the cold." Carlisle answered. "But we can figure out the rest later. I want to make sure everyone understands why we are doing this, and agrees."

Esme bit down on his lip, one of the human-habits that she still kept. She looked at her husband and partner Carlisle. He smiled reassuringly at his wife and looking away from his first son he said to the group,

"Another plus for Fork would be that we'd be very close to the Denali family. Kate, Irina…Tanya…" He paused and then added quickly, "So on the odd day that there is sun, we could always go for a visit."

"Carlisle…" Edward tolerantly, "Can we focus on something other than my love life?"

Edward was the only one in the family that was alone. There were Carlisle and Esme, Rosalie and Emmett, Alice and Jasper. And Edward, by himself. He knew his parents (well, 'parents' was the word Edward preferred over 'creator and his mate'.) dearly wished that he could find happiness with another of their kind. Esme especially hated seeing Edward alone, and Carlisle often wondered if he had changed Edward too young. He had been only seventeen when Carlisle saved him. The rest of them were somewhere near their twenties.

Tanya had made her intentions clear on many occasions, much to Edward's dismay. The Edward had made it clear that the feeling wasn't mutual. It wasn't that he didn't like the red-headed tenacious vampire. She was a kind soul, and her and her sisters shared the same values as their family, and the same eating habits. Tanya was attractive, you'd have to be blind not to notice, but there was no passion for him there. Nothing more than a familial bond.

Edward remembered when Rosalie had first joined their family, and Carlisle and Esme's secret hope that she would be the one for him. Most of the time Edward liked Rose well enough, but the most prevalent emotion he felt for her was simple irritation. Then she had found Emmett. Edward had always been grateful for Emmett, and his love for her. His love made Rosalie bloom, and kept most of her temper intact. Plus the appearance of Emmett in Rosalie's life had made any idea of Edward and Rosalie disappear.

Carlisle sighed, and Edward heard his silent apology. Edward nodded, his eyes softening.

"What about…you know, the Quileutes?" Emmett asked.

"I don't know if any of them will still remember the old ways… It was a long time in human years since we were last in Forks. And many first peoples tribes have strayed away from the old histories. I don't know if that would be the case for them, but either way, the treaty stands. We will not break it, so they have no need to bother us."

"They will remember." Alice said, her voice more dreamy than usual from her trance, "Some will hate us, a small few will refuse to come to the hospital, but I see no more trouble than that."

Carlisle nodded and with a deep sigh said,

"Well, if no one protests, it is time. It's not a choice, to stay, that is, and if we continue living here much longer someone _will_ suspect. It's just a matter of time. We've had some close calls before."

Carlisle paused, and Edward heard them all remembering the over-active but dangerously accurate imagination of one lonely observant boy in a town they had lived in a few decades ago. They had made their excuses and left town the next morning. Alice and Edward kept tabs on the boy for a while, hoping that they wouldn't have to kill an innocent. Eventually the boy forgot about them, but ever since the Cullen family had been extra cautious.

"Then we should leave as soon as possible. There's no need to get that close again. That was a onetime thing, I'm sure. We'll be safe from suspicion in Forks." Edward said swiftly and without emotion.

Carlisle nodded and his voice was distant,

"We leave tomorrow."

*****

**Author's Note:** Hey, thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed this. Any errors are my own, and it's a little difficult because I'm working backwards from little tidbits mentioned in the books. The present year would be (unless I read wrongly) 2005, two years before Twilight, when Bella moves to Forks. I plan on writing just five or six chapters, detailing the first week or so of the Cullen's new life in Forks. I DON'T have a beta right now, if anyone is interested I would very much appreciate it.

Oh, and just to head this off. Stephenie, as far as I know, has never mentioned how things like hair work. But being that I watch a lot of creepy cop shows, I know that hair and fingernails keep growing even after death, so it stands to reason that the Cullen's COULD need haircuts and manicures.

The First Day coming soon…


	2. Welcome to Forks

**Disclaimer:** The Twilight series is exclusive property of Stephenie Meyer. Any reference to Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn, the unpublished document of Midnight Sun or the mythology therein is her creative property. No plagiarism intended. This is a fan-created story.

**Chapter Two:**

**The First Day**

"I think you outdid yourself, Esme."

Edward was touring the finished effort of their new home in Forks. It was surprisingly pleasant, he found himself drawn to the large windows, the river outback and the white walls and floors. It wasn't anything like a normal human house, no beds, the kitchen there only for decorative purposes, and the bathrooms only for…well, enjoyment. Technically they had no need to shower or bathe, but if they wanted to, it would be quite the experience, with the master bath having a Jacuzzi and a sauna.

In fact, it looked a little too pleasant. He imagined loud days and nights from Emmett and Rosalie.

"Well, I want this to feel like home. Hopefully we'll be here for a while. You and Alice being freshman, gives us a good four years, at least. And while we're here, we might as well be comfortable."

Esme was practically bubbling with satisfaction and happiness. Edward tried to let himself be influenced by her emotions but instead just felt numb. Actually, he pondered as Esme lead his up the stairs to show him his room, he had been feeling that way for a while.

If he was being honest with himself, he had been finding the chaste "vegetarian" lifestyle of the Carlisle and the rest of the "Cullen Clan" a bit…numbing. It wasn't that he hungered for the taste of human blood so much as he remembered his rebel years, the time where he had left Carlisle and Esme, living on his own, a creature of the night. He had justified his actions by using his ability to find only those who would hurt others. He could stop these people, murderers, scam artists, gangs, evil men that deserved no second chances. He _did_ stop those people, for a little while anyway.

He remembered the adrenaline rush when he would swoop in and save a young girl from harm. Afterwards, when he was fully satiated he would follow the victim for a few days, monitoring their thoughts. He wondered now if it was caution or vanity that made him follow. Was he really checking to make sure that they would tell no one, or was he just desperate to hear that he was a savior…?

But if he went back to that, that kind of life, he knew that eventually he would come crawling home again. And resisting would be near impossible again. It would take years for him to get back the progress of decades of abstaining, it would be long before he felt as he did now. Practically benign to the smell of humans, but if he _were_ to cheat, to start all over again... Edward imagined it was an urge akin to the experiences he had read about of people coming off addictive substances. Even when the substance was out of one's body, there was the still the insatiable craving of the mind.

"-would you like to?"

He realized with a jolt that Esme was asking him a question. Quickly he pulled the thought out of her mind and responded with a swiftly, hoping she would not notice his hesitation.

"My room, of course I'd like to see it."

Esme smiled happily and lead him down the hall, past what he presumed were his siblings rooms.

"I took the liberty of doing some decorating, but I know that you like to do things like arrange your music and book collection yourself. And, of course, if you don't like anything you can change it without hurting my feelings." She smiled, and then added quickly, "And no peeking!"

Edward couldn't help but laugh at the reference towards his mind-reading abilities.

"I already promised not to. Please show me, you're getting almost as bad as Alice."

Esme grinned and pranced through a doorway into his room.

To Edward's great surprise he found himself liking this room much more than he had anticipated. The whole back wall was window, but did open, and there were some beautiful old pines right within an easy jumping distance. The walls were the same white, but the floors were made of textured white granite tiles. A black couch was against one wall, a fold-out. He could smell the silk bamboo blend of the cover. The adjacent wall was all bookshelf. He was already imagining his library there. It had been a while since he had changed his filing, maybe he would change the arrangement, possibly going by preference within year….

"Esme, it is perfect. Thank you for doing this."

"I want you to be happy here, Edward." Esme was looking up at him with such yearning in her eyes. She reached up and embraced him. Edward broke his personal rule and opened himself to her thoughts,

_Please let him stay. I can't stand to lose him now. He wants to leave, that's obvious, I wonder if Carlisle has noticed. Perhaps if we invited the Denali's to visit, as a housewarming…_

Edward pulled his mind away from hers, letting the sounds of the freeway in the distance, and the life around him fill his ears instead. Esme broke their embrace, and her face had the strained look that she got when she was pulling back emotion. Edward knew with a disturbing urgency that he would either have to come clean to his parents now and leave, or stay here and practice harder at seeming content. He could manage content, he decided. Not happiness, but at least complacency. For Carlisle, for Esme.

***

"I know you're all very used to this by now, but I want to make sure you all have back-up stories for any complicated situations."

Carlisle was smiling at his family, who circled him, leaning and fidgeting and other such things, practicing looking 'human'.

"I still don't understand why we can't dress more…L.A. chic."

Emmett and Edward laughed aloud, Jasper rolled his eyes and kissed Alice on the nose, Rosalie nodded in agreement with her sister. Carlisle chuckled,

"I understand Alice, but you may have noticed there's not even a department store here. We will be standing out enough already. Edward and Esme have made a few appearances at the hospital, and there's a family photo, so that helps with people at the hospital. But you will all need to put in the work at school."

"Besides," Emmett said, with a grin on his light-hearted face, "Edward has to put up with the thoughts of all the boys contemplating Rose naked, even dressed in a rain coat, imagine what a mini-shirt would do to these poor boys and our dear brother's head. Sorry Rose, baby."

Rosalie shot a smoldering look at Emmett and said, "Oh, I think dear Edward could get over it."

"I may not be paternal in one sense of the word, but I think I've still heard enough of this conversation." Carlisle said quickly.

They all laughed a little at that.

"So. We moved down here from Alaska, that way if Tanya and the others ever come to visit we'll claim them as cousins. Alice and Edward, you both seem to appear a little less…intimidating than the rest, plus you're the younger of the Cullen's. You'll do a lot of talking this week. But Jasper, you'll have to stick somewhat close to keep everyone at ease."

"Carlisle…"

Alice trailed off, her eyes flickering to her mate, Jasper.

"Alice, I will be fine. I'm not thirsty and we've been preparing for this for a while."

"I know. I'm sorry, Jasper. Plus so far, I see nothing unexpected happening. Although I see your…expression, Jazz, as being a little strained through the eyes of a human."

"Migraines." Carlisle said quickly. "That'll pass. Now, I don't want Esme's name smeared," he continued in a quiet voice, "but if it gets too bad, it might be necessary to say that she's unable to bear children." Edward noticed the sad look that crossed his father's face. He shot a look towards Jasper, unable to see his father in such pain.

The room seemed to relax, all the tension in everyone disappearing. They all smiled lightly.

"I'm quite all right Jasper, but thank you." Carlisle said, his emotions as steady as the rest of them.

"Well, I needed it. It seems like not very many of the people in this room trust me. Need I remind you all that I quit cold-turkey the second Alice came into my life?"

"We know, and I apologize, but I suppose you could say I have…first day of school jitters. I may have seen Edward be a freshman many times, but I can't completely suppress that paternal feeling of pride. Let's just say I'm having a human moment."

At this statement they _all _laughed. And one by one they filed into the new black Volvo, Edward at the helm.

***

New schools always bring about all sorts of new Hell, Edward reminded himself. But he couldn't help but wonder in dread if it would _always_ be this bad in Forks High School. He was almost wishing he had taken Alice's side in the argument between Forks, Washington and New York City. In a big city filled with unusual beautiful people, like New York, they would still stand out, but not _this _bad.

The seven-hundred range of student body was an all new kind of difficult. Edward had _thought_ it would be easier. Fewer thoughts to ignore had been his theory. But instead it seemed like the minds of these seven hundred-odd people were amplified. It didn't help that every single one of them were focused on him and his family.

_Wow. They don't __**make**__ girls like _them_ in Forks..._

_If he talked to me I would just _die_…_

_Maybe he'll go to the Spring dance with me….I bet no one else has asked him yet…_

_Oh. My. God. He is soooo hot! Weird name, Edward. But I could get over that…_

To Edward's dismay he had been seeing a lot of not just Rosalie being pictured in compromising positions, but himself and his brother's as well. This was not something Edward wanted. If he had to guess, he imagined the students of Forks probably thought Edward looked like he was in more pain than Jasper.

It was distracting, but he had to keep to the plan. He was certainly thankful that he had been unable to blush for seven decades. The day started…fast. There was no easing quietly into their spots and worrying about it later. No, there was far too much curiosity, and not just from the students, but from the teachers.

Edward had to stand up and introduce himself and his family quite a few times that day. Thankfully they all had homeroom together, so Jasper made the air feeling accepting and safe. Maybe a little _too _accepting, he thought with a wince as another stray thought of Emmet, of all people, drifted towards him. Edward grit his teeth, it was a necessary evil. But…it really sucked.

At lunch hour they all reconvened, finding a table for themselves. They went through the motions of filling their trays with food, and then dutifully picking at it occasionally. There had never really been a great idea of how to overcome the meal-time weirdness. They could make themselves eat the food if they had to, but then they would have to find somewhere to regurgitate it. Rumors of the new kids all being bulimics was not ideal.

"So." Alice said quietly, breaking the awkward silence of their table. She kept her voice low enough that prying ears wouldn't overhear. "How's everybody's day going?"

Edward chuckled at this, struck by how…normal they seemed. Catching on they all followed suit, except for Jasper, he was watching a girl to his left drinking a can of soda.

Edward kicked his brother swiftly, but lightly, in the shin. Jasper's eyes snapped back to the table in front of him.

_Sorry, I-I wouldn't-wasn't going to…_

Edward felt guilty, hating to make his brother feel bad.

The others had caught on, although Edward had tried to be discreet. They were all looking at him kindly, but Edward knew how much Jasper hated pity.

"You wouldn't have, Jasper." Alice said, her voice steady. Even so a vision flashed through her mind of Jasper lunging for the girl, grabbing her throat, and Edward and Emmett jumping him. After that it got fuzzy. He would have.

"Well, Emmett was right. But while I was rather expecting to see Rosalie pictured on many different arms, I didn't know dear Emmett would be such a hot commodity." Edward said, his tone joking, trying to distract them all away from Jasper. "I had no idea that your leg could go so high…"

"Aw, shut up, Ed!" Emmett said with a groan, "You and I both know that Rosalie and YOU are going for a tie for the most sought after. Who could resist you, you are, after all, almost as pretty as my dear _sister_." At this he leered at Rosalie who smiled slowly and raised an eyebrow.

"How much trouble do you think we'd get in for having sex in the locker room?"

"Considering that you're siblings I'm guessing we'd have to make a quick move, and claim that they have very good mental health facilities in Antarctica."

Alice chimed, rolling her eyes.

"Is incest considered a mental health issue these days?" Emmett asked, an angelic expression on his face. "You know how fascinated our dear brother Edward is in psychology."

Edward rolled his eyes.

"Anyway. I've introduced us in every class, we came from Alaska, we have family there, Esme and Carlisle adopted us. Alice is my sister and Emmet my brother. And Rosalie and Jasper are my adopted siblings. But even still, keep the romancing to a minimum, please. For mind's sake."

"Yeah, yeah…"

Emmet said, his eyes still on Rosalie.

"Rosalie has been doing the introductions for us." Jasper said in his quiet way, "I've been keeping the atmosphere calm. But I can relate with Edward…these kids are…enamored with us already."

Emmett snorted at his brother's careful phrasing.

"I want to make a friend." Alice announced. The silence after was long.

"A…friend? With one of these…humans?"

Jasper asked slowly, looking bewildered.

"Well, I'd been thinking about it back in Appalachia, but there wasn't anybody interesting there. But I'm hoping that maybe I'll find a person here. What?" she demanded, looking around at the faces of her family. "I've never had a friend. I don't even remember having one in my human life. I think its time."

"Er…maybe for now we should just lay low. After a few months here maybe then you could…find your friend." Edward suggested.

"Oh, Alice. I'll play slumber party with you if you want. Don't bring a _human_ into this. Besides, what human would be stupid enough to ignore their instincts towards us. Besides, they'd probably just end up dead."

"Rose!"

"What? I wasn't saying it would be Jasper, necessarily, but a human hanging around a bunch of vampires hungry for its blood? We'd just end up having to move even faster than last time."

"Well, I still think it's a good idea." Alice said stubbornly.

"Have you…Seen a friend coming?" Edward asked, curious but also a little horrified. He couldn't imagine any way that a human could live in the same world as them.

"No," Alice admitted, "but that doesn't mean anything. I don't see _everything_. Besides, I didn't even know I wanted a friend until today. So there's plenty of time."

At that moment the bell rang. Announcing that lunch was over and to get to class. They all stood, dumped their trays and left.

Alice's words reverberated in Edwards mind. A human friend. This was one of the rare times where he agreed with Rosalie, where would Alice ever find a human stupid enough to hang around a coven of vampires?

He shook his head, as if he could just shake the thought away. It was time for class, and he had more thoughts to sort through and ignore and, of course, pretending that he didn't know the answers better than even the teachers. Being alone had given him an advantage of a lot of time spent reading, plus he had attended college twice already. If he had done all that, how hard could a quiet existence in Forks Washington be?

***

Author's Note: Thanks for hanging in there, my two faithful reviewers. My internet went on the fritz. Two hours on the phone with tech support was NOT fun.

So I was thinking a visit to Mr. J Jenks would be in order. Would you be interested in reading about that? I thought it might spot-light Jasper a little more, and show why, in Breaking Dawn, Jenks is so terrified of Jasper.


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